Michael Johnson: There’s no reason why British sprinters can’t be world beaters

The American sprinter won four Olympic and eight World Championship gold medals, and holds the 400m world record

Can we dare to talk about Britain becoming a global force in sprinting?

It’s possible that they will be a force in sprinting. It depends on how the talent develops. And the talent’s there, there’s no doubt about it.

Why as a nation have we struggled to get a sprinter battling the best on the world stage for so long?

The one big problem is the desperation to have a world player. Before anyone’s actually achieved any sort of success, you have this thought that they’re superstars. If you treat them as superstars that can have a negative effect. It brings pressures and maybe the athlete isn’t ready for it. In the US, for example, that’s not a problem as the sport is under the radar so you have to go out there, really work hard and accomplish to get that sort of recognition.

Sticking to the sprinters, how highly do you rate Adam Gemili (above), and how good can he be?

I’ve not spoken to him or got to know him but he is someone I’ve seen in action a few times now. What I like about him is that he seems to be very grounded but we’ll see. You have to see how he develops. He has had a level of success but nothing like, say, a Mo Farah. It’s now all about the decisions Adam makes.

What about James Dasaolu, has he impressed you?

Again, that’s a wait-and-see situation. I’d be interested to see how he performs after last year. It’s difficult when you have a little bit of success, it gets blown out of proportion. But he has not yet realised that on the global stage.

There has been a lot of negative reports of doping coming out of Jamaica. What’s been your take on that?

I think it’s something the sport has to be consistently on top of.

There is talk that Jamaica could even be excluded from the Olympics with question marks about their doping practices...

I think work is being done to ensure it never comes to a point where Jamaica won’t go to the Olympics.

Should we be worried about doping in the sport?

I’ve got a 13-year-old son that I’m busy trying to build and grow. That’s why I’m not in the administration of track and field things in sport. If I was I would be more in tune with whether or not I should be worried about it. I haven’t given it enough attention.

Are we right to believe in Usain Bolt (above) or should we question him?

I think what’s happening makes it difficult. It creates a type of atmosphere where there aren’t concrete right or wrong answers. It’s all speculation really. I take the approach that I deal with facts. In the absence of facts, I rarely make a judgement call.

Going back to Britain’s sprinters, can they believe in beating the Jamaicans and Americans?

There’s no reason why British sprinters can’t be world beaters. You only have to think about the resources available to British athletes. You think about athletes all over the world that have achieved success and many of them don’t remotely have the resources of British athletes.

Moving away from sprinting, how impressed have you been by Mo Farah in the past year?

I’ve been impressed by him but I wouldn’t say I’ve been surprised by him. The only surprise would have been if he’d not continued having the success he had at London 2012. Just because he had twins after the Olympics, that didn’t mean he’d take a step back. He won double gold in London with an immense amount of pressure. If anything, this year has been easier. As for how good he can still be, that depends on him.

Do you expect the rivalry between him and Kenenisa Bekele to be one of the features of the coming season?

Definitely. And when you have two great athletes at the top of their game — that’s great for the sport. That’s the kind of thing fans like to see and I think we’ll see a lot of it next year.

And finally, you’re speaking at Doha GOALS next week. What exactly does that entail?

The idea is to bring people together from different levels of sport to share different ideas and practices. And then make positive changes around the world. Evidence has repeatedly shown that sport can be a force for good.

Michael Johnson will be speaking at Doha GOALS, December 9-11, in Doha, Qatar. For more information got to dohagoals.com or @DohaGOALS